THE ABSOLUTE TRUTH ABOUT THE ABSOLUTE TRUTH

by.   Dr. R. Albert Mohler, Jr.,                                                                                                                  Vol. VIII, No. 6, June/July 1995

        President, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

For years we have been warned that western culture is increasingly resistant to the notion of truth. Relativism, the notion that truth is determined by each individual, is now central to the modern secular worldview. As Professor Allan Bloom stated in his best-seller, The Closing of the American Mind, "There is one thing a professor can be absolutely sure of: almost every student entering the University believes, or says he believes, that truth is relative."

But this problem is not merely academic. Relativism shapes the way most Americans think of truth, morality, God, and the meaning of life. Shockingly, it is also the view of truth held by millions of persons sitting in church pews.

The Barna Research Group recently released a report (1) indicating that 67 percent of Americans agree that there is no absolute truth, and that 52 percent of born again Christians share that belief! As the report indicates, "The typical adult would argue that what is considered truth by me may not be the same truth to which you ascribe – and neither one of us is necessarily wrong, even if our respective truths are in conflict."

Some world religions are based on this concept of individual truth, but Christianity is founded upon a claim to absolute truth and its knowability. The gospel witnesses to a God who exists, whether we believe in Him or not; who has acted in human history; and who will call all humans to account, whether or not they acknowledge this fact during their earthly lives.

Christianity is founded upon the truth that God exists, and that He has revealed Himself in nature, Scripture, and His Son, Jesus Christ. The gospel of Jesus Christ is a testimony to actual deeds performed in human history. It is not a romantic saga which depends upon the human heart for its truth or an interesting idea which is to be shaped by the will and whim of those who hear it.

The church has no choice but to witness to the gospel as absolute truth and to confront secular society with the truth claim which God Himself has revealed to us. This testimony to absolute truth is part of the scandal the church is charged to bear before a secular society.

What does it mean that 52 percent of those who identified themselves as "born again" Christians rejected the notion of absolute truth? Did they understand the issue? Do they really believe that the truth of the gospel is their own private truth apart from fact or reality? Are they attracted to the church as a Fellowship but reject its message? Has our emphasis on experience so overwhelmed the church that many now ignore the foundation of that experience?

The church must bear a heavy responsibility for this remarkable trend. Some churches have ceased to witness to the fundamental truths of the Christian faith. In an age which honors self-fulfillment above honesty and celebrates the individual over the community, we should not be surprised that persons now seek private satisfaction rather than public truth. But the church cannot separate Christian experience from Christian truth.

The Christian experience is founded upon essential truths to which the individual must submit. Saving faith is not faith in faith, but faith in Christ – the historic Christ who was born in Bethlehem, lived without sin, was crucified as our Savior, bore our sins in His body, and was raised on the third day. That same Christ – fully God and fully man – who calls us to Himself bids us kneel at the truth of the gospel.

The Barna Group's report should trumpet a distress signal for the evangelical church. Its identify and integrity are at stake. The church which ceases to stand for absolute truth ceases to be the church.

The report raises significant issues about evangelism. How does the church speak fundamental truths to persons who reject objective truth? Some churches have been more than willing to meet the secular mind on its own terms, but what they preach is self-help, not salvation.

The church must, as the report proposes, create a stronger tie between lifestyle and faith. That is a crucial step toward a more effective witness. But the Christian lifestyle is not based on an idea or philosophy, it is founded upon the Lord Jesus Christ and the truth of His gospel.

A witness to absolute truth is part of the essential mission of the church – whatever public opinion may demand. Relativism carries the seed of its own destruction. When this wave of popular opinion passes, and it will pass, where will the church be found to have stood? The real church will be found where Christians stood with their Lord and His promise: "And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:32).

(1) "There's No Truth Like Your Own Truth," Ministry Currents, August 1991.

[Reprinted from The Christian Index, 17 October 1991.]